HUNDREDS of Wells residents have called for an end to “poor and discriminatory” pavements which prohibit disabled residents from getting around the city.

The Wells pavements accessibility survey was completed in late-2023, making a lengthy series of recommendations for how to make the pavements in Somerset’s smallest city safer and more accessible for people with limited mobility.

After months to perceived inaction, more than 1,400 residents have signed a petition calling for Somerset Council to step up and address the “total disconnect” between its policies and what it had delivered on the ground.

The unitary authority has apologised for the delayed response and said it would work with Wells City Council to see what improvements could be delivered in the short term.

The petition was presented to the full council in Bridgwater on Thursday afternoon (September 26) by Brian Clarke, who has motor neurone disease and requires a wheelchair to get around his home city.

He said: “I am here to present to you a petition signed in Wells by more than 1,400 people – 1,400 being the number of blue badge holders in Wells.

“The petition demands that you take immediate steps to end discrimination against disabled people, by addressing the complaints and recommendations made in the Wells pavements accessibility survey.

“The survey describes in clear detail the poor and discriminatory pavement and road infrastructure in Wells that places me and others at a disadvantage and at considerable risk compared with able-bodied people.”

Mr Clarke said the council’s failure to act on the survey’s recommendation potentially put the organisation breach of the Highways Act 1980, the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Equality Act 2010.

He added: “Since December 2023, neither I nor my co-authors Theo van Hensbergen and Bob Payne have received any meaningful written response from any representative of the council – just one acknowledgement last month.

“It is not unreasonable of me to have expected a response with your plans in the interval and for some of the very worst issues to have been re-mediated.

“You urgently need to address the total disconnect between your policy and the outcomes you deliver.

“Do you have any intention of re-mediating the serious discriminatory issues identified in the survey, which blight people’s experience of living in Wells?”

Mr Clarke and his fellow campaigners have threatened to lodge a formal complaint with the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) if “urgent re-mediation” was not forthcoming.

Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and waste services, apologised for the lack of progress that had been made to date and said the council would work to implement what changes it could over the next 12 months.

He said: “I’d like to offer our apologies in the delay of providing you with a response. I hope you received our letter regarding this matter earlier this week.

“I appreciate that this has resulted in considerable frustration on your part. Our team has considered your report and has been seeking to map out a way forward.

“For a number of reasons, we have not achieved this to date – but I will ensure that progress is made going forward.

“I appreciate the effort you made in drafting this report, and we value its content.

“We are setting up a task and finish group with yourselves, our officers and Wells City Council to identify work which will be prioritised and implemented in the coming year.”